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Kirby: Planet Robobot

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Kirby: Planet Robobot
North American packaging artwork
Developer(s)HAL Laboratory
Publisher(s)Nintendo
Director(s)Shinya Kumazaki
Producer(s)Satoshi Mitsuhara
Hitoshi Yamagami
Designer(s)Yuki Endo
Programmer(s)Yoshihiro Nagata
Artist(s)Monami Matsuura
Composer(s)Hirokazu Ando
Jun Ishikawa
SeriesKirby
Platform(s)Nintendo 3DS
Release
  • JP: April 28, 2016
  • NA: June 10, 2016
  • EU: June 10, 2016
  • AU: June 11, 2016
Genre(s)Action-platformer
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer

Kirby: Planet Robobot[a] is an action platformer video game developed by HAL Laboratory and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo 3DS. It is the fifteenth main installment in Nintendo's Kirby franchise. The game was released in Japan in April 2016 and worldwide in June 2016. Like Triple Deluxe, a previous 3DS Kirby title, enhanced versions of the two minigames featured in the game, Team Kirby Clash Deluxe[b] and Kirby's Blowout Blast[c], were released in the Nintendo eShop as standalone titles in April 2017 and July 2017, respectively.

Gameplay

See also: Gameplay of the Kirby series

Planet Robobot follows a similar style of gameplay to the previous Nintendo 3DS title, Triple Deluxe, taking advantage of the system's 3D capabilities to allow Kirby to move between multiple planes in stages. Like most games in the series, Kirby is able to inhale enemies in order to absorb their powers, including three new Copy Abilities; Doctor, Poison, and ESP. Additionally, players can gain abilities and items by scanning in supported Amiibo figures.[1][2] New to this game are mech suits known as Robobot Armor that Kirby can pilot, allowing him to destroy certain obstacles, lift heavy objects, and defeat large enemies. Like Kirby himself, the Robobot Armor can scan enemies to gain its own set of Copy Abilities that can be used to attack enemies and solve puzzles. Hidden throughout each level are Code Cubes, which are needed to progress and unlock bonus levels, and collectible stickers which can be used to customise Kirby's Robobot Armor.[3][4][5]

Minigames

Planet Robobot features two additional minigames: Team Kirby Clash and Kirby 3D Rumble. Team Kirby Clash in an action role-playing game in which up to four players choose a character class and work together to fight large bosses, earning experience along the way. Kirby 3D Rumble is a single-player game in which Kirby must travel along a 3D plane to inhale and shoot waves of enemies as quickly as possible. Clearing the main game unlocks two additional modes; Meta Knightmare Returns, in which players control Meta Knight through a harder version of the main campaign, and The Arena, where players fight multiple boss characters with limited healing items. The game also features support for StreetPass and Miiverse.[5][6][7] There is also a harder variant of The Arena known as The True Arena, which has players fight bosses from Meta Knightmare Returns as Kirby, and a new secret boss.

Plot

A massive mothership spacecraft called the Access Ark suddenly appears, conquers, and mechanizes Kirby's home planet, Popstar. King Dedede and Meta Knight try to fight back against the robotic extraterrestrials, but Castle Dedede and the Halberd (Meta Knight's airship) are both easily overpowered by a single shot of the ship's lazer defense. It is now up to Kirby, who slept through the entire attack, to set things right once again.

Kirby starts by destroying the five bases that serve as the Access Ark's landing legs. In the midst of doing so, he acquires the Robobot Armor, a mysterious power suit that adapts to and enhances his powers. Kirby also encounters an alien secretary of the Haltmann Works Company named Susie, who claims to be gathering endemic natural resources from the planet's ecosystems for her boss. Along Kirby's way to fighting back the colonization of the company, he also battles "Mecha Knight", a mechanized version of Meta Knight, a cybernetic Whispy Woods, a hologram defense system, and imperfect clones of Dedede.

After a long strenuous trek of destroying the five bases (rendering the Access Ark immobile) spread across the corners of Popstar, Kirby eventually infiltrates the moon-sized space station and confronts Max Profitt Haltmann, who turns out to be CEO of the Haltmann Works Corporation inside the ship's top floor, which serves as the company's headquarters. Haltmann, previously dismissing Susie for her failed attempts at stopping Kirby, who has been following the business plans of a supercomputer named Star Dream, duels Kirby in his personal robot but is defeated. Enraged, Haltmann attempts to use the Star Dream to destroy Kirby, but is betrayed by Susie, who intends on selling the machine to other companies. Unfortunately, the Star Dream becomes self-aware and attacks Susie after taking control of the president's conscious and becoming sentient. Star Dream then announces that all organic life-forms are obstacles in Haltmann Works' business plan of prosperity, assimilates Haltmann, and embarks on a mission of intergalactic destruction. However, Meta Knight punctually returns with his repaired Halberd, which fuses with Kirby's Robobot Armor, and Kirby blasts off into the cosmos above the mechanized planet to confront the supercomputer, which he eventually deactivates and presumably saves the planet.

Star Dream revives and takes control of the Access Ark, transforming into a sentient, mechanical planet to continue the fight. As Kirby destroys the armor covering the ship, the Access Ark's true identity is revealed - it turns out to be Galactic Nova, one of the wish granting comets used by Marx in Kirby Super Star. With Haltmann's consciousness fading within its operating system, Star Dream goes a rampage but is finally destroyed by Kirby, who ejects from the Halberd to destroy it with a gigantic drill. Kirby's robot, now falling apart, uses its last remnants of energy to toss him back to Popstar, where the machines sent by Haltmann magically disappear, returning Dream Land to its natural state, as Susie flees the grasslands of Popstar in her escape pod, quickly pursued by Meta Knight, as Kirby rushes off on his next big quest.

Though never directly shown in cutscenes, pause screen descriptions and comments from the game's director on Miiverse described how the story came to be.

President Haltmann was once a kind CEO who had discovered the Star Dream and the Access Ark and worked to get the machines working. Tragedy came, however, when President Haltmann's daughter,[8] Susana Patrya Haltmann, was involved in an accident with the machine and sent to another dimension. Overcome with immense grief, Haltmann attempted to use the Star Dream to wish for his daughter back, but it seemingly did not work. Overuse of the machine resulted in Haltmann losing his memories, eventually causing him to forget that he had a daughter in the first place.[9] Susie eventually escaped this other dimension and joined Haltmann Works Co., seeking revenge on her father.

Optional scenes

In the final stage of Meta Knightmare Returns, Star Dream wakes up and names Meta Knight the new CEO for defeating Haltmann. To prove Meta Knight's worth in running the company, Star Dream engages a special combat program that summons clones of Dark Matter (in its first form from Kirby's Dream Land 2) and Queen Sectonia (in her first form from Kirby Triple Deluxe) for him to fight. Once both clones are destroyed, Star Dream activates a dimensional portal (an act that was forbidden by Haltmann) to summon the incredibly-powerful warrior Galacta Knight. Before the fight starts, however, Galacta Knight turns and destroys Star Dream in a single slash of his sword.

At the end of The True Arena, Star Dream is wounded by Galacta Knight but not destroyed and becomes Star Dream Soul OS, who wields new and stronger attacks. After disabling it with the Halberd, Kirby attempts to use his Robobot Armor to finish off Star Dream but is instead inhaled by the giant machine. Inside, Kirby finds the heart of the Galactic Nova, which resembles that seen in Kirby Super Star except fought on foot. As Kirby destroys each of the pillars surrounding the heart, Haltmann screams in agony as Star Dream continues deleting him from its systems. By the time Kirby destroys the last pillar, Haltmann has been completely erased and Star Dream, now no longer held back by any emotions, takes control of the heart to fight Kirby directly. Once defeated, Star Dream emits a series of energy waves (which kills Kirby on contact if he doesn't have near-full health), then disintegrates.

Development

Planet Robobot was conceived as more of a direct successor to Kirby: Triple Deluxe early in development. The game would have featured the Hypernova ability, though it was eventually replaced with the Robobot Armor in order to avoid retreading old ground.[10]

The game was unveiled at a Nintendo Direct on March 3, 2016.[11] A set of Kirby themed amiibo (consisting of Kirby, King Dedede, Meta Knight, and Waddle Dee) has been released with the game's release date, and offer unique gameplay changes.[12] The game was released in Japan on April 28, 2016, and in June 2016 worldwide.[7] A demo for the game was released through the Nintendo eShop on July 21, 2016.[13]

Following the release of the original game, it was announced from an April 2017 Nintendo Direct that two minigames from Planet Robobot would be released as standalone titles in honor of Kirby's 25th anniversary. The first, released in April 2017, is Team Kirby Clash Deluxe, which expands on the minigame's action-RPG elements with additional levels and features. It is free to download and play, though in-game currency can be bought through microtransactions. The second, released in July 2017, is Kirby's Blowout Blast, a 3D platformer based on the gameplay of Kirby 3D Rumble.[14]

Reception

Reviews for Kirby: Planet Robobot have been positive. Metacritic gave it a Metascore of 81 out of 100 based on 71 critics indicating "generally favorable reviews".[15] GameSpot awarded the game an 8 out of 10, praising the gameplay, level design, characters, visuals, soundtrack, and extra modes, but criticized the "rarely challenging" difficulty.[16] IGN's Brendan Graeber rated the game an 8.0, praising its clever use of 3D-based puzzles in vibrant worlds, boss fights, the Robobot mech, and additional modes, but criticized the difficulty and invulnerably easy blocking. He stated, "Kirby: Planet Robobot may not be the most challenging platformer around, but its clever use of robotic destruction combined with gorgeous environmental puzzles and unique bosses make for an entertaining ride. I only wish Kirby’s monstrous mech suit could make proper use of the huge amount of collectibles"[17] Destructoid's Chris Carter gave it a 7 out of 10, stating, "While the robot motif comes in half-cocked, Planet Robobot is still a safe, serviceable Kirby game. After beating the story and reflecting on it, many elements felt like just going through the motions, but those motions haven't gotten stale yet after nearly 25 years."[18]

As of June 2016, it has sold 300,479 copies in Japan.[19] By the end of March 2017, total sales reached 1.36 million copies.[20]

Notes

  1. ^ Known in Japan as Hoshi no Kābi: Robobo Puranetto (星のカービィ ロボボプラネット, lit. Kirby of the Stars: Robobo Planet)
  2. ^ Known in Japan as Minna de ! Kābī Hantāzu Zuī (みんなで!カービィハンターズＺ, lit. With Everyone! Kirby Hunters Z)
  3. ^ Known in Japan as Kābī no Suikomi Daisakusen (カービィのすいこみ大作戦, lit. Kirby's Suction Strategy)

References

  1. ^ Minotti, Mike (March 3, 2016). "Kirby returns to 3DS with Planet Robobot (and new amiibo)". VentureBeat. Retrieved March 14, 2016.
  2. ^ GameXplain. "30+ amiibo Tour in Kirby: Planet Robobot". YouTube. Retrieved April 29, 2016.
  3. ^ Sarker, Samit (March 3, 2016). "Kirby: Planet Robobot puts Kirby into a mech suit this June". Polygon. Retrieved March 14, 2016.
  4. ^ Haywald, Justin (March 3, 2016). "New Kirby Game Coming to 3DS, Includes Giant Robots". GameSpot. Retrieved March 14, 2016.
  5. ^ a b "More Kirby: Planet Robobot details". Nintendo Everything. March 5, 2016. Retrieved March 14, 2016.
  6. ^ J. Seppala, Timothy (March 3, 2016). "'Kirby' returns to your hands in June with 'Planet Robobot'". Engadget. Retrieved March 14, 2016.
  7. ^ a b Romano, Sal (March 3, 2016). "Kirby: Planet Robobot Announced For 3DS". Gematsu. Retrieved March 14, 2016.
  8. ^ Kumazaki, Shinya. "Robobot Ask-A-Thon Part 1". Miirverse. Nintendo. Retrieved 8 September 2016.
  9. ^ Kumazaki, Shinya. "Robobot Ask-A-Thon Part 2". Miirverse. Nintendo. Retrieved 8 September 2016.
  10. ^ Kumazaki, Shinya (May 29, 2016). "Kirby: Planet Robobot director on the story, characters, Robobot Armor, and abilities". Nintendo Everything. Retrieved May 29, 2016.
  11. ^ Goldfarb, Andrew (March 3, 2016). "Kirby: Planet Robobot Announced For 3DS". IGN. Retrieved March 14, 2016.
  12. ^ Makedonski, Brett (March 3, 2016). "Here's The New Kirby Line of amiibo". Destructoid. Retrieved March 14, 2016.
  13. ^ Scammell, David (July 18, 2016). "Kirby: Planet Robobot demo coming to Nintendo eShop this week". VideoGamer.com. Retrieved July 18, 2016.
  14. ^ Nintendo (13 April 2017). "Nintendo Direct 4.12.2017". Youtube.com. Retrieved 1 August 2017 – via YouTube.
  15. ^ "Kirby: Planet Robobot for 3DS Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved February 8, 2017.
  16. ^ Brown, Peter (May 25, 2016). "Variety is the spice of life". Retrieved 23 July 2016.
  17. ^ Graeber, Brendan. "Making robot suits look good in pink". Ign.com. Retrieved 25 July 2016. {{cite news}}: |archive-date= requires |archive-url= (help)
  18. ^ Carter, Chris (June 10, 2016). "Domo arigato". DEstructoid.com. Retrieved 26 July 2016.
  19. ^ "This Week In Sales: Dragon Quest Heroes II, Overwatch, And Kirby Continue Leading The Way". Siliconera.com. 8 June 2016. Retrieved 1 August 2017.
  20. ^ Makuch, Eddie (27 April 2017). "Nintendo Switch Ships 2.74M Units, Zelda Rises To 3.84M Shipped". Gamespot.com. Retrieved 1 August 2017.
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